DRINK! WINE OF THE WEEK.

Sutter Home Pinot Noir

April 21, 1999|By William Rice, Tribune Food and Wine Columnist.

The Sutter Home winery made its reputation on white zinfandel and continues to produce good-value red zinfandel. But here's proof that this is no one-grape winery: a 1997 pinot noir with a fresh, lively mouth feel and a ripe cherry taste.

After years of painfully slow progress in marketing U.S. pinot noir, the grape of France's Burgundy, sales have been leaping forward since mid-decade. The Sutter Home pinot noir, made from Monterey County grapes with some Napa fruit, has a berry scent and medium weight in the mouth.

At less than $10, this is a practical wine, not a highstrung thoroughbred. There's quite a bit of tannin here, but not too much when the wine is paired with food. Good matches range from steak to goat cheese, with stops at lasagna-with meat or vegetable filling-pork chops, stews and even grilled salmon.